CHALLENGERS NOT EAGER TO FACE ‘BIG, STRONG’ UNION RAGS

El Padrino co-owner Bryan Sullivan of Let’s Go Stable really didn’t want to put his 3-year-old colt up against top-rated colt Union Rags with five weeks to go before the Kentucky Derby. But for Sullivan, it was a matter of staying near home for today’s Grade I $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park rather than traveling to the Louisiana Derby.

“Does anyone really want to run against Union Rags right now?” Sullivan said. “I don’t think anybody in the country does, but, you know, our horse is really, really doing well right now and he’s getting better all the time. A mile and an eighth is going to be right up his alley. But none of these races are going to come up easy. We’re going to take a shot and we’re going to have some fun doing it, I can tell you that.”

Sullivan was asked if the Florida Derby will be a measuring stick for El Padrino, the son of Pulpit out of Enchanted Rock who is trained by Todd Pletcher. El Padrino has three wins, a second and a third from five starts for $266,100 in lifetime earnings. Union Rags, the son of Dixie Union out of Tempo, is the 6-5 favorite in the race. He’s trained by Michael Matz and has won four times and has a second from five starts for $1,098,800 in lifetime earnings.

“Our horse is somewhat of a lazy horse and he’s a very big horse, kind of like Union Rags, a very imposing horse,” Sullivan said. “He’s the kind of horse that the more you do with him, the better he is. This was the best spot for him. Now, we’d love to win Saturday. I don’t think we have to, but I think we got a big shot.”

You might remember El Padrino trainer Matz from his days of training the famous but ill-fated Barbaro. Matz sees big things from Union Rags, everyone’s favorite to win the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

“He’s training well coming into the Derby, and so far, he’s done everything we’ve asked,” Matz said. “He can run close to the pace. He can run off the pace. He can do whatever you ask him to do.”

Matz sees similarities between Barbaro, winner of the Kentucky Derby before breaking down at the start of the Preakness and eventually euthanized, and Union Rags.

“They’re both big, strong horses that can go the distance, and they have lovely dispositions,” Matz said. “This horse has a lot of ways to go to do what Barbaro has done, but we sure hope we get the same results.”

Although Matz has great memories of Barbaro, he also lived through the dramatic attempt to save the colt after he shattered a leg after a false start in the Preakness, two weeks after winning the 2006 Kentucky Derby. He was let go by the horse’s owners, Ray and Gretchen Jackson, and it was not a good parting, Matz said.

“It did hurt an awful lot when I didn’t know why I was let go,” Matz said. “But that’s over with and I was lucky enough that they gave me a horse like Barbaro to train and lucky enough that Mrs. (Phyllis) Wyeth gave me a horse like (Union Rags) to train. I’m lucky to be back here again.”